Day 57 – Solomon Mine Rail Spur Day 2/TPTP
Saturday, July 21, 2012 at 06:53AM Wow I have had an awesome day…. You know when you see something that you have never seen before? Well I had one of those days today.
Ok yesterday I explained a little about where I am working until tomorrow. But I hadn’t really thought about it until I had a look around today. Have you ever been driving along the road & noticed a railway line running alongside it? Have you ever wondered how it got there?
Today I saw the birth of a railway line! Something that will possibly be here for tens or hundreds of years and the terrain it has to go through is amazing, rocky outcrops, stone hills & sunken valleys! Keeping in mind that a rail line is fairly flat. So you have a boy’s (& some girls) Paradise! There are explosions, there are drilling rigs, there are dozers and excavators, there are big trucks & bigger trucks. Today I was on site when they had a controlled blast. They drill 60-100 holes roughly 6 inches in diameter, then they fill them up with explosives, throw in detonators join them all together & connect it to a power source & then push the button & KABOOOOOM!!! The sound is only overshadowed by the shaking of the ground and the rattle of the building that I am looking out of! It was Sick!
The purpose of the blast is to loosen the ground so the diggers and dozers can scoop & push the dirt into trucks. The trucks then redistribute the dirt, they don’t take it & dump it… The valleys get filled & the hills get blasted….so it all ends up flat for the train. They build bridges & fill watercourses to go over really deep drops & they just blow a path through hills. Oh and yesterday I talked about costs! You have no idea. How’s this…. On Thursday one of the truck drivers went to the paramedics office complaining of dizziness & not feeling right. They put all the machines on him and it was determined that he was ok, all his vital signs were fine. He went back to his room & the next day he was still not right. So they decided to fly him to Pt Hedland & then down to Perth via the Royal Flying Dr Service. Now they have a system in place here where once it has been decided that someone needs to be flown off site for medical reasons they have to have a constant escort! So one of the safety advisors had to stay with this person until they arrive at hospital! And did you know that the cost to get a helicopter or plane in to fly someone out is $35,000 and they have had to do it 8 times this year so far! And the mine pays for it not the patient! I was speaking with a manager and the budget for this sort of thing, they usually allow $1,000,000 a year for bringing the RFDS in!!!
Ok enough waffling, but it was really quite an interesting day for me.
My day consisted of 4 loads of washing, changed the sheets on the bed, mopped the floors, walks around the caravan park and Annie and I played with the galah’s. Annie had a bath and entertained the passer-by’s in the park and decided for the 2nd day in a row not to have an afternoon sleep….suffice to say she was asleep at 6.30pm.
Reader’s replies & comments
Only one last night, Annie’s friend Archie said hello. Thanks Archie, great to hear from you.
Rob & Juan have returned home from their world adventure. Great to have you back R&J will see you when we get back.
Annie’s Blog
Oh man I got the bestest and newest trick….. I can stand up in my cot!!! For this whole trip my Mum & Dad have been really happy that I have not tried to stand while I’m in my cot…. But today I found a way to do it and I freaked Mum out. She rang Dad and told him that I was standing in my cot. Now it is safe because it can’t fall over… It is attached to the wall with these special straps that Dad got made. I think Mum is hoping that I will forget how to do it….. Fat chance!!!
Mum & me watched lots of people leave the caravan park today, Dad told Mum that it is probably because school holidays end this weekend and everyone is going home.
I’ll be so glad when Dad gets home tomorrow, he will make stupid noises and funny faces for me, Mum does too but she is more serious, she spends lots of time talking to me & reading me books and playing with me….But Dad just makes weird faces and tries to make me laugh….. He doesn’t know but I just laugh at how silly he is!
Hey Archie….Great to hear from you too. I’m so glad that all my friends have the same problem with the NO word. I reckon we all get together one day and do stuff that makes all of our Mums & Dad’s say NO NO NO NO….. Hahahaha that wIll be fun.
Mum said that Rob & Juan came back to Australia…. I mean why would they leave Australia? I’ve been here for 10 months and I love this country….I mean what else could be out there in the world? I guess I’ll find out one day.
Love & miss you all
AnnieInAVan….XXXXX
Reader Comments (2)
Greetings from London. Sounds like a fun day James. I'll look forward to seeing your pictures and hearing a first hand account.
Hey hey Annie, WOW saw that your up and about these days . . Crusing the furniture and box on wheels. Well done! BY the time you get back I'll be able to chase you around the house/park. Missed seeing you on Saturday at my little gathering. We had such a fun day... even the pony from across the road came over and we all had pony rides. My mum said to tell your mum that she said Hi. Keep the updates coming as mum and I love reading them.